The inconvenient truth about hybrids

The Recorder ^ | March 7, 2007 | Chris Demorro

[Riodacat]

The Toyota Prius has become the flagship car for those in our society so environmentally conscious that they are willing to spend a premium to show the world how much they care. Unfortunately for them, their ultimate ‘green car’ is the source of some of the worst pollution in North America; it takes more combined energy per Prius to produce than a Hummer. Snip-------------------- When you pool together all the combined energy it takes to drive and build a Toyota Prius, the flagship car of energy fanatics, it takes almost 50 percent more energy than a Hummer - the Prius’s arch nemesis.

Through a study by CNW Marketing called “Dust to Dust,” the total combined energy is taken from all the electrical, fuel, transportation, materials (metal, plastic, etc) and hundreds of other factors over the expected lifetime of a vehicle. The Prius costs an average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles - the expected lifespan of the Hybrid.

The Hummer, on the other hand, costs a more fiscal $1.95 per mile to put on the road over an expected lifetime of 300,000 miles. That means the Hummer will last three times longer than a Prius and use less combined energy doing it.

[Reeses]

At the extreme the most environmentally friendly personal transportation is a motorcycle but it also comes with the highest personal health care costs. If you value the life and health of your wife and children an SUV engineered for occupant safety is a far cheaper total cost of ownership way to go.

[TheBattman]

The number don't work out. For starters - the Prius has an expected lifepan of only 100K miles? That just does not line up with typical Toyota quality or durability.

Second, the Hummer, though an interesting vehicle is no likely to go 300K miles. Remember, it is made by GM.

Third - other than the cost of the battery in the Prius, the Hummer contains more metal, more plastic, more mechanicals (engine and drivetrain) than the Prius.

I am not questioning the expense of regular maintenence on the Prius, but overall, there is just NO WAY the numbers work out the way they are implied in this article.

I know exactly two people with a Prius - one has had theirs for a couple of years and have 45K miles on it. They are extremely happy. The costof ownership has been quite low - as they have had no trouble whatsoever with it. And they average on combined driving over 50mpg.

The other has only had their Toyota a couple of months, but so far, have commented on how tight the car is built and how great the fuel economy is.

A Hummer, on the other hand (which one are they using for comparison?) is heavier, and gets FAR lower gas mileage (an average of 9-10mpg for an H2 - the most popular model). He cheaper, and slightly smaller H3 gets between 13 & 16 mpg. And the H2 costs approximately twice the cost of a Prius, while the H2 costs about 20% more than the Prius.

So, while I am not a potential Prius buyer (I much prefer the full-size vehicle like my current Tahoe, or a full-size pickup), I won't go around dogging the little hybrid car. The numbers just don't add up like the author would claim.